Translation.

XVIII. When the fleet formed for Alexander upon the banks of the Hydaspes was now ready, he provided crews for the vessels by collecting all the Phœnikians and all the Kyprians and Egyptians who had followed him in his Eastern campaigns, and from these he selected such as were skilled in seamanship to manage the vessels and work the oars. He had besides in his army not a few islanders familiar with that kind of work, and also natives both of Ionia and of the Hellespont. The following officers he appointed as Commanders of the different galleys[33]:—

Makedonians.

The Pilot and Master of Alexander’s own ship was Onêsikritos of Astypalaia, and the Secretary-General of the fleet Euagoras, the son of Eukleôn, a Corinthian. Nearkhos, the son of Androtîmos, a Kretan by birth, but a citizen of Amphipolis on the Strymôn was appointed as Admiral of the expedition.

When these dispositions had been all completed, Alexander sacrificed to his ancestral gods, and to such as had been indicated by the oracle; also to Poseidôn and Amphitritê and the Nêreids, and to Okeanos himself, and to the River Hydaspês, from which he was setting forth on his enterprise; and to the Akesinês into which the Hydaspês pours its stream, and to the Indus which receives both these rivers. He further celebrated the occasion by holding contests in music and gymnastics, and by distributing to the whole army, rank by rank, the sacrificial victims.

XIX. When all the preparations for the voyage had been made, Alexander ordered Krateros, with a force of horse and foot, to go to one side of the Hydaspês; while Hephaistiôn commanding a still larger force, which included 200 elephants, should march in a parallel line on the other side. Alexander himself had under his immediate command the body of foot guards called the Hypaspists, and all the archers, and what was called the companion-cavalry,—a force consisting in all of 8,000 men. The troops under Krateros and Hephaistiôn marching in advance of the fleet had received instructions where they were to wait its arrival. Philip, whom he had appointed satrap of this region, was despatched to the banks of the Akesinês with another large division, for by this time he had a following of 120,000 soldiers,[34] including those whom he had himself led up from the sea-coast, as well as the recruits enlisted by the agents whom he had deputed to collect an army, when he admitted to his ranks barbarous tribes of all countries in whatever way they might be armed. Then weighing anchor, he sailed down the Hydaspês to its point of junction with the Akesinês. The ships numbered altogether 1800, including the long narrow war galleys, the round-shaped roomy merchantmen, and the transports for carrying horses and provisions to feed the army. But how the fleet sailed down the rivers, and what tribes Alexander conquered in the course of the voyage, and how he was in danger among the Malli,[35] and how he was wounded in their country, and how Peukestas and Leonnatos covered him with their shields when he fell,—all these incidents have been already related in my other work, that which is written in the Attic dialect.[36] My present object is to give an account of the coasting voyage which Nearkhos accomplished with the fleet when starting from the mouths of the Indus he sailed through the great ocean as far as the Persian Gulf, called by some the Red Sea.

XX. Nearkhos himself has supplied a narrative of this voyage, which runs to this effect. Alexander, he informs us, had set his heart on navigating the whole circuit of the sea which extends from India to Persia, but the length of the voyage made him hesitate, and the possibility of the destruction of his fleet, should it be cast on some desert coast either quite harbourless or too barren to furnish adequate supplies; in which case a great stain tarnishing the splendour of his former actions would obliterate all his good fortune. His ambition, however, to be always doing something new and astonishing prevailed over all his scruples. Then arose a difficulty as to what commander he should choose, having genius sufficient for working out his plans, and a difficulty also with regard to the men on ship-board how he could overcome their fear, that in being despatched on such a service they were recklessly sent into open peril. Nearkhos here tells us that Alexander consulted him on the choice of a commander, and that when the king had mentioned one man after another, rejecting all, some because they were not inclined to expose themselves for his sake to danger, others because they were of a timid temper, others because their only thought was how to get home, making this and that objection to each in turn, Nearkhos then proffered his own services in these terms: “I, then, O king, engage to command the expedition, and, under the divine protection, will conduct the fleet and the people on board safe into Persia, if the sea be that way navigable, and the undertaking within the power of man to perform.” Alexander made a pretence of refusing the offer, saying that he could not think of exposing any friend of his to the distresses and hazard of such a voyage, but Nearkhos, so far from withdrawing his proposal, only persisted the more in pressing its acceptance upon him. Alexander, it need not be said, warmly appreciated the promptitude to serve him shown by Nearkhos, and appointed him to be commander-in-chief of the expedition. When this became known, it had a great effect in calming the minds of the troops ordered on this service and on the minds of the sailors, since they felt assured that Alexander would never have sent forth Nearkhos into palpable danger unless their lives were to be preserved. At the same time the splendour with which the ships were equipped, and the enthusiasm of the officers vying with each other who should collect the best men, and have his complement most effective, inspired even those who had long hung back with nerve for the work, and a good hope that success would crown the undertaking. It added to the cheerfulness pervading the army that Alexander himself sailed out from both the mouths of the Indus into the open main when he sacrificed victims to Poseidôn and all the other sea-deities, and presented gifts of great magnificence to the sea; and so the men trusting to the immeasurable good fortune which had hitherto attended all the projects of Alexander, believed there was nothing he might not dare—nothing but would to him be feasible.

XXI. When the Etesian winds,[37] which continue all the hot season blowing landward from the sea, making navigation on that coast impracticable, had subsided, then the expedition started on the voyage in the year when Kephisidôros was Archon at Athens, on the 20th day of the month Boëdromion according to the Athenian Kalendar, but as the Makedonians and Asiatics reckon * * in the 11th year of the reign of Alexander.[38] Nearkhos, before putting to sea sacrifices to Zeus the Preserver, and celebrates, as Alexander had done, gymnastic games. Then clearing out of harbour they end the first day’s voyage by anchoring in the Indus at a creek called Stoura, where they remain for two days. The distance of this place from the station they had just left was 100 stadia. On the third day they resumed the voyage, but proceeded no further than 30 stadia, coming to an anchor at another creek, where the water was now salt, for the sea when filled with the tide ran up the creek, and its waters even when the tide receded commingled with the river. The name of this place was Kaumana. The next day’s course, which was of 20 stadia only, brought them to Koreatis, where they once more anchored in the river. When again under weigh their progress was soon interrupted, for a bar was visible which there obstructed the mouth of the Indus; and the waves were heard breaking with furious roar upon its strand which was wild and rugged. Observing, however, that the bar at a particular part was soft, they made a cutting through this, 5 stadia long, at low water, and on the return of the flood-tide carried the ships through by the passage thus formed into the open sea.[39] Then following the winding of the coast they ran a course of 120 stadia, and reach Krôkala,[40] a sandy island where they anchored and remained all next day. The country adjoining was inhabited by an Indian race called the Arabies, whom I have mentioned in my longer work, where it is stated that they derive their name from the River Arabis, which flows through their country to the sea, and parts them from the Oreitai.[41] Weighing from Krôkala they had on their right hand a mountain which the natives called Eiros, and on their left a flat island almost level with the sea, and so near the mainland to which it runs parallel that the intervening channel is extremely narrow. Having quite cleared this passage they come to anchor in a well-sheltered harbour, which Nearkhos, finding large and commodious, designated Alexander’s Haven. This harbour is protected by an island lying about 2 stadia off from its entrance. It is called Bibakta, and all the country round about Sangada.[42] The existence of the harbour is due altogether to the island which opposes a barrier to the violence of the sea. Here heavy gales blew from seaward for many days without intermission, and Nearkhos fearing lest the barbarians might, some of them, combine to attack and plunder the camp, fortified his position with an enclosure of stones. Here they were obliged to remain for 24 days. The soldiers, we learn from Nearkhos, caught mussels and oysters, and what is called the razor-fish, these being all of an extraordinary size as compared with the sorts found in our own sea.[43] He adds that they had no water to drink but what was brackish.

XXII. As soon as the monsoon ceased they put again to sea, and having run fully 60 stadia came to anchor at a sandy beach under shelter of a desert island that lay near, called Domai.[44] On the shore itself there was no water, but 20 stadia inland it was procured of good quality. The following day they proceeded 300 stadia to Saranga, where they did not arrive till night. They anchored close to the shore, and found water at a distance of about 8 stadia from it. Weighing from Saranga they reach Sakala, a desert place, and anchored. On leaving it they passed two rocks so close to each other that the oar-blades of the galleys grazed both, and after a course of 300 stadia they came to anchor at Morontobara.[45] The harbour here was deep and capacious, and well sheltered all round, and its waters quite tranquil, but the entrance into it was narrow. In the native language it was called Women’s Haven, because a woman had been the first sovereign of the place. They thought it a great achievement to have passed those two rocks in safety, for when they were passing them the sea was boisterous and running high. They did not remain in Morontobara, but sailed the day after their arrival, when they had on their left hand an island which sheltered them from the sea, and which lay so near to the mainland that the intervening channel looked as if it had been artificially formed. Its length from one end to the other was 70 stadia.[46] The shore was woody and the island throughout over-grown with trees of every description. They were not able to get fairly through this passage till towards daybreak, for the sea was not only rough, but also shoal, the tide being at ebb. They sailed on continuously, and after a course of 120 stadia anchored at the mouth of the river Arabis, where there was a spacious and very fine haven.[47] The water here was not fit for drinking, for the sea ran up the mouths of the Arabis. Having gone, however, about 40 stadia up the river, they found a pool from which, having drawn water, they returned to the fleet. Near the harbour is an island high and bare, but the sea around it supplied oysters and fish of various kinds.[48] As far as this, the country was possessed by the Arabies, the last Indian people living in this direction; and the parts beyond were occupied by the Oreitai.[49]